Pet ownership is widespread in most parts of the world, and many pet owners spend a considerable amount of time grooming and cleaning up after their pets. For example, many “short-hair” pets are prone to “shedding.” This is the term for the normal and systematic loss of hair by the animal. For some animals, a large volume of hair is shed at certain times during the year, while some animals seem to shed piles of hair at a constant rate.
Many pet owners go to long lengths to control the amount of pet hair that accumulates in their home, car, etc. Shed pet hair is generally perceived as unhygienic and may reflect poorly on a pet owner's cleanliness in the eyes of their colleagues. Pet hair also can cause or exacerbate allergic reactions in pet owners or those that visit their homes.
One typical first step in controlling pet hair is to brush the coat of the pet with a hand-held brush or comb which causes the pet's hair to be loosened from the pet and either collected in the bristles of the brush or released to the ground nearby. In the typical second step, the pet owner will then clean the brush or comb and vacuum the area to dispose of the loosened hair. As many pet owners can attest, this can be a time consuming chore, and one that must be repeated on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
Many attempts to simplify the management of pet hair have been made in the past. In particular, many have attempted to combine the brushing and vacuuming steps by providing a device that performs both tasks simultaneously. In general, such a device includes a brush or comb portion for running over the animal's coat and an attached vacuum portion for collecting hair and debris loosened by the brush portion. Of course, such devices are in many ways similar to the various hand-held vacuum cleaners known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,786,384 to Amstutz describes a hand-held vacuum brush having a bottom plate with a ring of bristles. The device uses an electric motor to draw debris into a bag.
Pet hair behaves in a considerably different manner than typical household dirt and dust, and thus requires any vacuum intended to collect it to have unique characteristics and capabilities in order to be effective. Many difficulties have been encountered in designing such devices to effectively handle the substantial quantity of hair generated by the pet. One example of a pet grooming device is given by U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,131 to Plyler. This device includes a vacuum system and a detachable head with a plurality of individually spaced bristles. The bristles are long and thin and include a tiny ball-like outer tip end. The vacuum system includes a motor for drawing hair, ticks and fleas into a collection bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,018 to Louison also discloses a device intended for grooming pets. The device has a suction means and a brush. The brush includes scratching teeth and combing teeth, which loosen and groom an animal's hair. The suction means serves to press the loosened hair against a collection grill, through which the teeth extend. Cleaning the device after use requires that the grill be removed from the grill and the hairs then removed from the grill.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,481 to Trahan discloses a hand-held pet grooming apparatus having a generally cylindrical shape. Individually spaced bristles are provided on the lower end of the device for engaging pet hair. A vacuum is created in a vacuum chamber by a battery operated mechanism, and hair and other debris is drawn into the vacuum chamber and retained by a hair catch member which has a porous-type material to separate the vacuum chamber from the air chamber
Unfortunately, it has been found that the devices of the prior art intended to aid pet owners in grooming and cleaning their pets have significant shortcomings. For instance, it is often the case that brush or comb teeth or bristles do not provide sufficient loosening of a pet's hair. Brush or comb teeth may be advantageously used to separate hair, but not necessary to loosen and remove hair. The teeth or bristles are also often designed such that they collect a tangled mass of hair between them, preventing this hair from being collected by the vacuum means. The result is that the user must repeatedly clean the teeth or bristles. The teeth or bristles also often cause pain or irritation to the pet.
It has also been found that many devices are inconvenient to clean. The use of a collection bag significantly complicates the cleaning of the device, as many parts must be opened or disassembled in order to prepare the device for an additional use after the collection bag is filled.
It has further been found that the devices of the prior art are designed such that the vacuum means are relatively weak and/or require frequent replacement of batteries. Pets are often fearful of loud noises, and many vacuum systems are relatively loud. In general, low-power/low-torque motors must be used for vacuums to be employed on pets. Vacuum systems with such motors have been known to perform poorly due to inefficiencies in the design of the vacuum system. A low-power/low-torque motor requires extremely efficient components in order to generate a sufficiently strong vacuum in a device small enough to be hand-held.
What is desired, therefore, is a cleaning device that loosens debris and hair so that the debris and hair can be collected by a vacuum. It is further desired that the device be capable of dislodging hair without causing the hair to become tangled or clumped together. It is further desired that the device be easy to clean and prepare for subsequent use. It is yet further desired that the device not cause pain or irritation to a pet. It is still further desired that the device be efficiently designed so as to maximize the capabilities of a low power and low torque electric motor. It is also desired that the device be hand-held and easy to use.